BEFORE 



WITNESSES TO APPLICATION FOR PATENT 
, 73 ^ HEARING 

THE COMMITTEE ON PATENTS 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SIXTY-THIRD CONGRESS 

Second Session 



ON 



H. R. 15220 

A BILL TO MAKE IT UNNECESSARY TO HAVE THE ATTES- 
TATION OF TWO WITNESSES TO AN APPLI- 
CATION FOR PATENT 



APRIL 15, 1914 



WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1914 






COMMITTEE ON PATENTS. 

/ 

WILLIAM A. OLDFIELD, Arkansas, Chairman. 
MARTIN A. MORRISON, Indiana. WILLIAM KENNEDY, Connecticut. 

FRANK CLARK, Florida. HUNTER H. MOSS, Jr., West Virginia. 

JOSHUA W. ALEXANDER, Missouri. AARON S. KREIDER, Pennsylvania. 

OSCAR CALLAWAY, Texas. FRANCIS O. LINDQUIST, Michigan. 

HERMAN A. METZ, New York. JOHN I. NOLAN, California. 

ROBERT P. HILL, Illinois. CALVIN D. PAIGE, Massachusetts. 

WOODSON R. OGLESBY, New York. 

Clarence E. Kay, Clerk. 
2 



D. OF 0, 

JAN 13 1915 



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nt 






WITNESSES TO APPLICATION FOR PATENT. 



Committee on Patents, 

House of Representatives, 

Wednesday, April 15, 1914. 
The committee was called to order at 11 a. m., Hon. William A. 
Oldfield (chairman) presiding. 

The Chairman. The bill now under consideration is H. R. 15220, 
which makes it unnecessary to have the attestation of two witnesses 
to an application for patent. Is that it, Mr. Alexander ? 

Mr. Alexander. Yes. Here is what the Commissioner of Patents 
states: 

Department of the Interior, 
United States Patent Office, 
Washington, D. C, April 2, 1914. 
Hon. W. A. Oldfield, 

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. 
Dear Sir: House bill No. 15220, introduced by Mr. Alexander March 31, 1914, 
entitled "A bill to amend sections 4888 and 4889 of the Revised Statutes relating to 
patents," is drawn for the purpose of dropping from the patent statute the requirement 
of attestation by two witnesses of the specifications and drawings of applications. It 
makes this change and no other in the statute, and the change is, in my opinion, a 
desirable simplification of the application for patent. 
Respectfully, 

Thomas Ewing, Commissioner. 

Mr. Morrison. I move the bill be reported favorably. 

Mr. Nolan. I second the motion. 

(The motion was agreed to.) 

Mr. Morrison. I move the chairman be instructed to take any 
action he deems proper for the purpose of securing action by the 
House. 

Mr. Alexander. I second the motion. 

(The motion was agreed to.) 

The Chairman. Now, then, gentlemen, there is a bill here that I 
introduced January 12, 1914 (H. R. 11321), and another (H. R. 1700) 
introduced by myself April 7, 1913. That is the bill reported in the 
last Congress and left on the calendar so late we could not do anything 
with it; and also bill H. R. 10153, a bill introduced by myself at the 
request of Mr. H. Ward Lamon, an inventor of New York. After 
going over the matter with the Commissioner of Patents, he decided 
I should introduce it and thrash it out and see if there was any merit 
in it; and I would like to have a hearing on these three bills or any 
other suggestion the Commissioner of Patents or any member of the 
committee feel inclined to make and see if we can not work out some 
legislation, and I would like to begin the hearings next Wednesday if 
we can. 

Mr. Alexander. Had you not better indicate the bill you would 
take up first ? 

The Chairman. I think we will hear them all at once. 

Mr. Alexander. Are they the same subject matter ? 

The Chairman. They all relate to patents. 

(The committee then adjourned.) 

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